Crisis in Southern Arabia

Average annual rainfall in the PDRY is about three inches, only 1% of its land is cultivable, and there is little hope of any significant expansion. Beyond the narrow and relatively dry coastal plain rise a series of parallel ridges which merge into a rugged plateau. In its western part this plateau is an extension of Yemen’s tableland but otherwise it gradually falls northwards into the Rub‛ al Khali desert. Even in areas of sufficient precipitation, the rugged terrain, broken by many wadis, prevents extensive cultivation. The exceptions are some areas in the west, the Abyan delta on the coast and Wadi Hadramaut in the east.